The Guardian Conspiracy
by R.N. Islam
Summary: The Guardians are safekeepers of something much more dark and sinister than the Doomsday Device, and now this deadly secret has fallen into the hands of a familiar enemy. Now it is up to the Cahills and Guardians together to get the secret back, and uncover the truth about the Guardian conspiracy.
1. Chapter 1 - Jake Rosenbloom

**Please favorite and review this book if you like it! New chapters, coming soon! -Rifat**

Jake Rosenbloom realized how hard it was to talk to Amy Cahill. He was a whole ocean away from her, which meant Skype. He thought about the first day he had met her: Jake had called the police on her, Amy had kicked him really hard in the chest. But it was more than that. 2 years ago, Amy and her little brother had found the secret of the 39 Clues, which her ancestors had sought for 500 years. Now that they were the keepers of the secret, others had tried to take it. In a traumatizing few weeks, a criminal organization known as the Vespers had kidnapped Amy's relatives and held them ransom. Amy and Dan had to make some thefts that made them #1 wanted on Interpol. Jake had no idea at first, but he was a part of it.

Well, not really. His brother Atticus was. And Jake always stood by Att. As well as having an IQ of 200 and being a college graduate at 11, he was a Guardian. A guardian of the Vesper's darkest secrets. Att and Jake were in a same hole as the Cahills.

But it was supposed to be over. Amy and Dan had defeated the Vespers. They returned to the US, while Jake went back to Rome.

His phone buzzed and he took it out. It was a text from Amy.

'hey jake im bored'

He knew she was more than just bored: she was thinking about her old choices again, the deaths of her grandmother, her parents, her friends... and Evan Tolliver... But Jake could do nothing about it here. He texted back:

'do u want me 2 come'

BUZZ.

'no its fine'

Jake imagined Amy, lost and forlorn. She was calling 'Jake'... 'Jake'...

"Jake!" Dreadlocks flying in his face. Jake snapped back to reality. Atticus waved his hands in front of his face.

"I won against Dan again!" Dan was Atticus' best friend. Not only were they both silly, goofy, and immature, Att's mom had told them to be friends on her deathbed... which was for fighting the Vespers. But now that was over.

"Your friend is only good at video games, Att," Jake snorted back.

Atticus shrugged, "Still!"

Jake had just rolled his eyes when he heard something fall. Atticus jumped in fright and spun towards the chimney, where an envelope now lay.

"Y-you open it, Jake!" Atticus whimpered. Atticus may have had an IQ higher than Einstein, but he had no sense of bravery.

Jake ripped open the letter, which was torn and faded. Inside was a grubby piece of stationary paper. Jake immediately knew what it was.

"Att, this is from dad's notepad!" Atticus' eyes widened, as he was now excited. Mark Rosenbloom was an archaeologist who was currently on a dig in Tunisia.

Jake read the small note with had traveled very far.

'Atticus, you need to come here to Tunisia. I'-

The paper was ripped here. Jake read on:

-'your mother. This is important and involves the Guardians. Mark, your dad.'


	2. Chapter 2 - Amy Cahill

Amy Cahill was only 16, but she was already the leader of the world's most influential family. She and her dweeb brother Dan were the only people alive to know the secret of the Cahill Serum. She had led her whole family to save the world from Doomsday. How could she live with that burden?

Amy tried to feel happy. She lived in Grace's mansion, with Nellie, her awesome fellow Madrigal/former au pair, and Fiske, their granduncle. But thoughts of the flames licking around her parent's home, Irina falling to her death, Lester sinking in quicksand, and Natalie electrocuted by the Doomsday Device countered her attempts to be happy. She could never feel good again, when so many people had died for her, especially Evan... Evan, who she had drawn into her world, and lay dying in her arms for it... No. Amy had faced too much.

But it was far worse for Dan. For a long time, he had sunk into the deepest recesses of his heart. Amy was afraid he wouldn't come back. But he was coming out of shell gradually. Amy thought of the old Dan, who would be obsessed with ninjas and collected baseball cards and graveyard rubbings. Now Dan had all 39 Clues memorized in his head. How could Dan ever feel normal, when he held the most powerful deadliest secret of all time?

Maybe she would feel better after talking to Jake. Jake... a gorgeous boy... and the brother of a Guardian. However, she felt more conflicted after texting him. How could she have a brat like Jake when ever-loyal Evan had died for her? Tears blurred Amy's eyes as she remembered holding Evan as his life faded away in the dark tunnels teeming with Vespers.

'do u want me 2 come'

It wasn't Jake's fault that she liked Evan before him, was it? It wasn't his fault that she and... Ian had been closer before, right? Why was her life so complicated? A wave of anger boiled in Amy as she remembered Ian's betrayals... especially after their kiss in Korea...

'no its fine' she replied, not wanting to talk to him anymore.

Amy continued pacing in the now useless Command Center, full of conflicting thoughts. She tried to ignore Dan, who was unsuccessfully trying to hack an online chess game against Atticus. Impossible. Dan was older than Atticus, but Atticus was already a Harvard college graduate.

Dan cursed as the words YOU LOSE flashed on his screen. He waited for it to fade, but for some reason it didn't. Instead, the brightness of the words increased, and they suddenly flickered. The screen was a blinding electric blue before the screen was dark. All the lights and technology went out at the same time.

"Kiddos, what happened?" Nellie, who still had spiky black-red hair, appeared,.with an iPod earphone dangling from her ear. "My iPod stopped charging!"

Amy rolled her eyes. "Power outage, Nellie."

Nellie looked let down. "Darn it, can't listen to music anymore!"

"You would be extremely lucky if all you lost is music," a loud voice boomed out of the Cahill Command Center speakers.

Amy turned around, confused. She looked at Dan, who looked equally bewildered. _Oh_ no, Amy thought. _This can't be happening! Not again!_

"Give me the 39 Clues, now," the voice darkened. Amy had a nagging feeling that she vaguely recognized the distinctive voice, but she wasn't sure from where.

"Yup, seems like this isn't a prank, kiddos..." Nellie confirmed, her face looking worried in the darkness.

"Nellie Gomez...the honorary Cahill...your family had, as you know, the Lucian snake ring. If you only knew who you really are, your family has more than only a ring... I will require your services soon," the icy voice hissed. "But for now, it is you, Mr. Dan Arthur Cahill, who I need. I ask once again, give me the 39 Clues... much more is at stake than you know..."

Amy had no idea who this person was or what he wanted. "N-no! W-who are you?"

"Amy Hope Cahill, although I know you, you don't need to know in the slightest bit who I am. Just give me the SERUM!" the voice roared.

Dan looked at Amy and she knew what he was thinking of. Escape.

The voice started chuckling, "I know what is racing through your puny little minds. No. I have forces waiting to aprehend you if you don't give me the key to the serum willingly. Last chance."

Dan looked at Amy with desperation. He had a flashback to when Isabel Kabra had forced the Clues out of him. But at least back then, he only knew a part of the Clues. Now, he faced an unknown enemy and had all the ingredients to the serum. His mouth tasted bitter as he opened it to croak reluctantly:

"Iron solute, phosphorus, tungsten..."

The Clues, and the fate of humanity, spilled out of his mouth as Amy and Nellie looked at him in a mix of sorrow, desperation, and anger. They should have chosen one million dollars at Grace's funeral. They should have refused to accept the Clues from the other teams. Now it was too late.

The voice dismissed them after this. "Go tell your family about how you spilled the beans about world domination. Haha!"

The trio needed to travel to a more secure Madrigal stronghold and infrom the family - now. What they didn't realize was that the mysterious man had left his forces outside the mansion.

Whoops.


	3. Chapter 3 - Ian Kabra

Ian Kabra was lonely and poor. Poor meaning having only $4 million. Still, Ian often yearned for the days under Isabel and Vikram Kabra, his ruthless yet rich parents. At the same time, he didn't want to live with them. He had renounced them after the Clue Hunt, but Isabel had sacrificed herself to save the world. So now Ian wasn't so sure.

What he did know was that the Kabra mansion was too big for Ian with his whole family gone. Vikram Kabra had never been seen since the Clue Hunt. Isabel Kabra had died stopping Vesper One. Natalie Kabra was dead, electrocuted by the Doomsday Device in her foolish and very un-Lucian like attempt to stop it. The sad thing was, he was sort of icy with the only family he had left: the Cahills, especially Amy.

And for a good reason. He thought of when he had stolen the Lucian serum from her in the Paris Catacombs, held them at gunpoint in Venice, trapped them in Seoul... even worse, his mother had done unforgivable things like the murder of Amy's parents...

But they could be forgiven. Isabel had obviously redeemed herself. Ian? Maybe not. He had helped them against the Vespers, but he hadn't single-handedly destroyed the device, killed Vesper One, and saved the world like Isabel, had he?

Ian wanted to be forgiven. He had felt some feelings stir up for Amy ever since Seoul, but he didn't want to admit it. He still excused his kiss with Amy as a way to decieve her into trusting him in Korea... until recently. The one time he had tried to confess his true feelings to Amy, it had resulted in disaster. It was only for that reason Amy started dating Evan Tolliver.

But it was too late. He couldn't dwell on it anymore. Amy no longer needed him. Even after Evan died, she had developed a new relationship with Jake Rosenbloom, the nerdy Guardian kid's brother. She had never turned back to Ian, especially when he had hurt her in such a way... Ian's guilt remained with him forever.

"Ian?"

Ian woke up with a jolt and covered his mouth. Had someone heard him mutter Amy's name to himself repeatedly?

"Ian!"

It couldn't be. He sprung off his luxury sofa and opened the door. No way. Like he had summoned her, right out his dreams, it was Amy Cahill.

"Oh, um..." he stuttered. "Hey, Amy..." She looked filthy, as if she had rolled in a pile of mud.

"Don't forget about us," piped Dan, the annoying brother, standing next to the spunky Nellie. He remembered when he had tried to poison Nellie on a flight to Tokyo. She was resilient, but had a horrible taste in clothing and hairstyle. Ian shuddered at all of their get-ups. At least Amy was pretty...

Oh. _I did not actually think that, did I?_

"So," Ian said half an hour later, when everybody was freshened up, "Why are you here?" Ian sippped his coffee while the others had lemonade. Ugh. Lemonade. They had bad taste buds too!

Amy struggled to speak, "W-we were attacked..." Her voice got stronger. "We told them the serum." The fear in her usually determined eyes was clearly undeniable.

"You're the only Cahill who isn't busy... who could talk to us immediately..." Amy winced. Of course he wasn't busy. All he did was pace around his mansion thinking about Natalie. "Now we need to contact Ham, Jonah, Fiske, and Ja... yeah," Amy faltered. But Ian knew who she was going to say. Jake. Not even a Cahill, but Amy's boyfriend.

"We need your help, Ian," Amy looked into his eye. That was the right thing to say. He wanted to be needed. He wanted to do something, for once. "We need to figure out why this person needs the serum and how to stop them." At least with the Vespers they had formulated their own plot. But now, the guilt was the Cahills'. For letting slip the serum into the wrong hands.

"Yeah!" Ian glared at Dan, "Why'd you tell them the serum when they still tried to kill you after?"

"I didn't know that!" Dan protested.

"You should've-"

Amy interrupted. "It's not too late. The person has to find all the ingredients and then make the serum... so we still have time. Time to mobilize and figure out a plan."

Ian, who was still death glaring at Dan snootily, replied, "Fine, Amy! I'll call Sinead, Jonah, the Holt, and Fiske now. Jonah's on one of his tours, Hamilton is in the Olympics, Sinead is in some nerd competition, and Fiske is on vacation."

"Which stronghold are we going to?" asked Nellie.

Ian was going to tell her she wasn't even a Cahill by birth, but instead he said, "The Easter Island strtonghold, the most secure stronghold out of all of them."


	4. Chapter 4 - Atticus Rosenbloom

Atticus could barely sit still on the plane to Tunis. "Do you think our dad found something?"

Jake frowned, "I don't-"

"Do you think he found something from mom?" Atticus pressed on.

Jake shook his head, "Well-"

Atticus leaned forward on his seat. "Do you think Mom's back?"

These words hung in the air like a dark raincloud, as Jake gaped at Atticus. Astrid Rosenbloom, the last Guardian, had died in the hospital. Her own tech guy, Dave Speminer, had turned out to be Vesper One. But in her last breaths, she had passed the responsibilities of Guardians to Atticus, ad told him to stay friends with Dan Cahill.

Atticus' phone rang. He whipped it out, and glowing on the screen was 'Dan Cahill'. "Dan?"

He heard shuddered, and barely controlled, breaths. "Att," Dan croaked.

"What happened?" asked Atticus.

"We don't know. Someone attacked us." Atticus' eyes widened. "Just stay put, ok, Att? It's not safe to go anywhere with this enemy traveling the globe. Ok? Att? Att?"

Atticus, shocked, tried to choose. Should he listen to Dan, his only friend, and not risk his life? Or should he find out about his mother from his dad? Feeling horrible about it, Atticus said, "Ok, Dan. I won't go anywhere..." but in his mind, he was still determined to go to Tunisia.

Atticus had just lied to his friend. His only friend. His best friend. But he had to know about his mother, right?

Jake asked, "What was that about?"

Atticus said sadly, "Someone attacked the Cahills. Dan said for us to stay in Rome, because it's too dangerous to go anywhere. But I'm going."

Jake looked shocked. "No! We have to go back! Safety is more important-"

Atticus realized, "_You're_ not a Guardian. You don't have to come. Dad didn't even mention you in the letter!"

Jake frowned stubbornly, "I'm your chaperone! And I tell you, let's go back!"

Atticus pleaded, "But it's about mom!"

Jake looked at him fiercely, "I don't care! She's _your_ mom, not mine!"

Atticus gaped at Jake after his sudden outburst. Yes, they were half-brothers. But it had never mattered to them. They were as close as real brothers! Until now. Until the Guardians came.


	5. Chapter 5 - Hamilton Holt

Hamilton Holt felt a little giddy being the first Tomas to find the Madrigal's Easter Island stronghold. He remembered the buzz when Maleia Kalani became the first Tomas to come eve within 2,000 miles of it. Well, Hamilton was standing right in front of the enterance.

Not that the Tomas would care, Hamilton realized. He was a Madrigal. A Tomas traitor. In his mind he saw the mocking face of Ivan Kleister when he tried to convince the Tomas at Mt. Fuji to join him.

But it was the right desicion. They needed to reunite the family. That was proven when the Vespers attacked. He remembered the people's reactions as he had explained his choice of becoming a Madrigal. The curiosity etched in their faces. They wanted to know the truth. There was still a chance of unity amongst the family against all threats.

Everyone knew the moai 20 ft away from the rest was the one the Tomas girl had tried to open. Fiske laughed, "All you Tomas can do is ue brute force. There's a password and a retina check for every person." Hamilton scowled.

While Sinead was interested by the technology, Jonah looked worried. "Yo, you sure we all can get in?" He had a suden flashback to a retina scanner under Venice where Nannerl's diary had been hidden.

Amy nodded. "Ian, Jonah, Hamilton, you're official Madrigals. And Sinead," she added as an afterthought. Even though she was a Madrigal, Sinead had once been Vesper Three.

Amy found the right moai and pulled its ear. The statue revolved to reveal a password pad and a retina scanner. She and Dan entered first. _Amy and Dan Cahill, grandchildren on Grace Cahill, children of Hope Cahills and Arthur Trent, leader of Cahills, owner of the 39 Clues. Access granted._

Fiske followed them and went next. He hobbled up to the eye scanner. _Fiske Cahill. Former Madrigal leader. Brother of Grace Cahill, guardian of Amy and Dan Cahill. Access granted._

Nellie, technically not a Cahill by birth, was made a Madrigal 2 years ago by Fiske Cahill in Jamaica. She passed easily. The others, to their relief, passed, as they both represented their branch and the Madrigals.

Facing away from the technology and to the Madrigals, Dan spoke, "We have to figure out who has our serum, but we barely know anything."

Amy continued, "All we know is a goice and what it said." Shetilted her head curiously. "Dan, what did the voice sound like?"

Dan thought carefully, "Male. Had an accent. Sort of like Ian's, but not really."

Ian easily replied in his silky smooth voice, "Australian, then."

Amy was already typing at her screen. "There's only one Cahill. Robert Henderson Cahill." She looked at Ian.

Ian knew what she was thinking. Amy and Dan had found Robert's clue in Australia during the Clue Hunt, but not before being almost fed to sharks and facing poisonous snakes from Isabel Kabra, Ian's mother. But Ian couldn't apologize for his mother's deeds, could he?

"And your uncle Shep," read Hamilton off the screen.

Amy waved that aside. "He's not a real Cahill. Just my dad's brother. But we could stay at his house!"

Dan frowned, "But then it's impossible. Robert would have had to live over 200 years to attack us now..."

Amy thought about that. "Then let's rule him out. Then that means a rogue Australian non-Cahill stumbled on Troppo's clue and figured out about the then, let's go!"

Dan pumped his fist, "Uncle Shep, here I come!"


	6. Chapter 6 - Mark Rosenbloom

Mark Rosenbloom was digging carefully, looking for signs of any ancient Carthaginian ruins. So far, he didn't find anything about ancient Carthage. Neither had his colleagues. But he had much more worse...

"Dad!" cried a familiar voice. He turned around and saw his two children walking up to him. Why had they come? He didn't remember calling them here... especially when he had found such a dangerous secret...

Atticus was bouncing up and down, dreadlocks flying, unable to contain his excitement. Jake looked a lot more serious, however.

Mark waved, "Hey, Atticus, Jake! Why are you here? I haven't found much here - yet."

Atticus rolled his eyes. "Dad, you forget everything so easily. Look, you sent me this." Atticus said "me", not "us", including Jake.

As Mark read the letter, his eyebrows furrowed concernedly. He handn't remembered sending this... he was probably so worried when he had seen the secret that he had notified Atticus. "Oh.. I'd better explain. Let's go."

He told one of his colleagues who was busy hacking away at a particularly hard piece of rock, "Tell John I'm taking a break with my kids."

The man nodded but called later, "Remember to join us at the group dig at site 57B!"

Mark walked a quick pace, with Atticus hot at his heels. Jake was walking behind, not caring.

Wait. Mark turned around suddenly, pointing at Jake, "Why are you here? The letter was only for Atticus!"

This seemed to make Jake angrier. His face red, he replied, "While you are off digging, I have to be Atticus' chaperone!"

But Mark shook his head insistently. "No. You can't come. Wait for us here."

Jake nearly yelled, "But-"

"No buts. This is only for Atticus."

Atticus seemed less excited when Jake was gone, but he still hurried quickly behind Mark. "Is it about mom?" he spoke quickly.

Mark nodded absentmindedly.

"So is mom-"

Mark silenced him with a look that said, _Not now._ They were now at some sort of hidden cave.

Mark looked at his son, and in the fading daylight, he said, "Atticus, I was digging and I found something." He hesitated, but continued. "Something about the Guardians. Follow me."

Holding out a flashlight, he led Atticus into the cave, until he stopped at a set of markings, showing an ancient wall drawing and line of Carthaginian writing. Mark gave Atticus a sheet of paper.

Holding the flashlight, Atticus saw that it was a translation of the writing. When he compared the writing, he felt a chill creep down his spine. It simply said the word 'Guardian'.

There was more. He held the flickering flashlight to the drawing. It was unclear, but showed some sort of object, like a device or weapon, held by figures in the sky. They were descending upon the ancient world.

"What does this mean?" Atticus whispered. For once, he wished Jake was with him.

Mark shook his head, "I don't know... but it indicates the Guardians had to protect another object other than the Doomsday Device. I don't know if Astrid had it..."

Atticus was mystified, but felt slightly intimidated. He was the Guardian of something worse than Doomsday?

He turned to look at his father, but he wasn't there. "Dad?" His voice got hysterical. "Dad!"

Suddenly, he saw the legs of his father's body receding into the cave. "No!" He started running and punched the attacker as hard as he could. His flashlight waved crazily around the cave, and Atticus glimpsed a bloody face for a second.

Atticus screamed in terror. Without even knowing, he dropped his flashlight. In the darkness, blind, he tried to find his father in vain. "Dad!" A rough force pushed him away and fell hard into the wall, smearing blood all over the wall drawing.

He got up again, and ran after his attacker, but suddenly tripped over his own flashlight. "No!" he wailed. He picked up the flashlight and looked around, but there was no one left, and no traces of the struggle except for the blood on the wall behind him.


	7. Chapter 7 - Nellie Gomez

_Flames dance around the house, glowing bright red and orange. The 7-year old girl watches the flames, entranced by their deadly yet melodic movements._

_No. She must fight it. She must save her parents. She doesn't know how, but she must. _

_She leaps into the fire. A fiery glass cup flies behind her and shatters on the wall, barely missing her. But she continues, running through the house, calling "Mama! Papa!"_

_The heavy smell of smoke almost overpowers her, and she breathes through the sweat on her shirt, coughing hard. But she must continue._

_Suddenly, a wall of fire roars down the hallway, blocking her path. "No!" she cries. The bedroom is within her sight. She sees the terrified faces of her parents. _

_She crazily jumps over the fire to the bedroom. Her parents are shaking horribly, faces pale. They tell her to go. _

_No. She won't go. She will save them._

_But her parents insist. They hand her a piece of paper and a snake nose ring. Why should she care about these things? Her parents' lives are more important._

_The look on their faces convinces her otherwise. Her parents tell her to protect the two things and shove her away._

_"No. No!" There is a small opening in the blazing fire. She turns to get them, but they are determined._

_Tears streaming down her face and barely knowing where she is going, she somehow makes it out of the house. The house collapses behind her, and she sobs uncontrollably._

_She catches sight of a dark figure walking away as the house burns down. Her parents are no more._

Nellie Gomez shook her head crazily. No. The visions were returning. She touched her forehead, and winced, as they were throbbing with pain.

"Nellie! Come on!" The voice of Dan.

Nellie was completely falling apart, having visions at day, but struggled to catch up. No. She had to be a cool, collected, spunky Nellie everybody looked up to.

But right now, all she felt was the opposite of collected. She had tried to forget what had happened so many years ago. She almost had. Getting caught up in the Clue Hunt, fighting the Vespers, had made her forget.

But when she had found out Dan's friend Atticus was a Guardan, she was completely shocked. Her parents, lost in that blaze, had chosen to give her a snake ring and a piece of paper instead of letting her save their lives.

Not any piece of paper. She had hid it, locked it safely away, but when the voice in the Command Center told her that he would be needing what her family legacy... the piece of paper now felt a lot heavier...

OK. Maybe she hadn't locked it away. She now felt with every waking moment the paper rub against her thigh in her pocket. But she could never part with it. It was her last memory of her real parents... and a dangerous secret...

Her neighboring family had raised her for the rest of her life. But she never really forgot. She never forgot that she had the secret of the Guardians right with her...and she never told anybody, not even her brave kiddos Amy and Dan...

Dan's voice cut through her thoughts, "Yes! We're here!"

She looked up and saw they had arrived in front of Shep's house. Amy went up and knocked, but there was no response.

Dan shrugged, "We're family, so we don't have to knock, do we?" and barged through the door. To his astonishment, it was locked and swung open when he did so.

"Okay then..."

Amy raised her voice, "Uncle Shep? We've brought some friends with us!"

Silence. Hmm... the living room looked strangely empty. A coffee cup was smashed on the floor and stained the carpet. Something was wrong.

Nellie walked into the bedroom/library and gasped in shock. She had to grab a sofa and sat down. "No..." she muttered.

The whole room was a mess. The bookshelves were knocked down, and the books were littered all around the floor. Uncle Shep was nowhere to be seen.

Nellie held her forehead, trying to stop the pounding of pain behind it. This was the next step from their enemy. The next step for the enemy who seeked the Guardian secret...

She needed to have a talk with someone she could trust. Unbelievably, she stepped into a side room, dialed a number, and spoke, "Hello, is this Attiicus Rosenbloom? Yes? I need to talk to you. And it's urgent."


	8. Chapter 8 - Dan Cahill

Dan Cahill thought he was a failure. A very dumb failure.

Ingredients of a DNA-enhancing serum still swirled around his brain, along with his many video game, ninja, and baseball card knowledge. But he had been trusted with the most important serum of history, and he had botched everything.

He had spilled the beans on the serum, and now an enemy was out there in the world, collecting ingredients and drinking the secret to world domination.

He shuddered and closed his eyes, watching the bright spots travel across his closed eyelid. What was wrong with his family? Why did a 13-year old boy have to control such a power?

Amy thought she knew what Dan felt. But she didn't. No one did. No could feel Clues rattling around his brain, begging to get out. And he did release them. And now they all were in deep doo-doo...

None of the Cahills understood him. So when they had to go to Australia, he was extremely excited. He could visit Uncle Shep... someone who knew nothing about the Clues, had no expectations, did not look at him like he was burdened so much.

Uncle Shep was a cool guy... surfer and the brother of a Cahill. He was extraordinary in the fact that he was an ordinary person surrounded by an extraordinary family. And that's what Dan loved about him. His normalness.

He saw Shep's house in front of him and was bouncing as Amy knocked the door. No response.

Who cared? He opened the door, which swung open, and stepped in, calling for Shep.

No response. He was probably in his bedroom.

Only, when he peeked around the corridor, the room was ransacked and a mess. No. Impossible. They couldn't have...

But they did. Shep was kidnapped. And Dan knew with a certainty that it was by the same person who had taken the serum.

"Shep..." he choked, feeling the emotion of rage boil inside him. He would pay back for this.

Nellie, who looked stricken, ducked into another room, probably to have some time alone...

He turned and looked at Amy, who had a tear well in her eye. Ian Kabra, face impassive, merely stated, "Well, this is a plot twist, isn't it?"

Dan glared at him. Why did Ian have to be so direct. Why did Ian have to trick his sister in Korea? Uggh. He closed his eyes. His anger was reviving old grudges. No. He should keep control...

Fiske said softly, "We should clean this place up, and then we'll figure out our rescue plan." Dan knew what Fiske meant. Rescue of both the serum and Shep.

When the room was back to normal... as normal as it could be without Shep... Fiske spoke again, "Let's not dwell on this too much and let it distract us. That's what the enemy wants. Us to be distracted. But we won't be. We'll track him down. Let's start with the police museum with the records of Troppo."

Amy merely nodded, unable to speak. They had to get themselves together and make a plan quickly. Before Shep was gone...


	9. Chapter 9 - Jake Rosenbloom

Jake Rosenbloom stood silently in the desert, watching the wind blow sand around and fuming.

He wasn't a Guardian. His brother was, but he wasn't. His dad had deserted him for that. Nearly everyone he knew now was either a Guardian or a Cahill. He felt something stir inside him, panging angrily...jealousy.

Jake Rosenbloom was jealous of his brother. A nerdy 11-year old college graduate with no social life. He lnew how girls looked at Jake. He knew how gorgeous Jake looked. And Jake was smart... smart for his age, not weirdly light-years ahead like Atticus. But still. This one thing nagged him too much. His brother was a Guardian, but he was not. His brother was actually a part of the Cahill struggles, but he was not. It was extremely difficult to be in the world of Cahills, Vespers, and Guardians without being any of the three...

He tried to hold his feelings down. It wasn't his fault...

"Hey," someone spoke. He turned to see a guy wearing all black. "You haven't seen Mark Rosenbloom, have you?"

Jake, in his anger, wasn't even paying attention to who it was. "Hm-mm... over there..."

"Thanks."

A few minutes later, he heard a familiar scream. Atticus... What was his dad showing to him?

But the shrieks continued, getting more and more shrill. Uh oh. Jake raced as fast as he could, stretching his leg muscles to the limit, to the cave. When he looked inside, the cave was dark and empty...

Or so it seemed. A small figure was slowly walking to him, wrapped in shadow. Jake slowly stepped back. When the silhouette stepped out, Jake looked in shock.

Atticus! The boy seemed disheveled and worn down. There was blood on his head, which was trickling down slowly...

"Atticus, what happened to you? Where's Dad?"

Atticus, looking terrified, croaked, "He-he... they took him..."

Jake looked at him in the eye. "Who?"

Atticus, "Someone... took him... wearing black so we wouldn't see him..."

Jake felt like Atticus had punched him in the gut. "Wearing black...?" That man... he had told him where the cave was...

All his rage drained away, replaced by a deep guilt. "N-no... Atticus... it's my fault... I led him there..." Feeling completely lost, he led Atticus back to the dig site for medical help.

It was not that deep of a cut, and looked worse than it seemed. While Atticus was getting fixed up, Jake stayed at his side, feeling conflicting emotions overwhelm him...he had led the men to his father...gotten him kidnapped...

Atticus' phone rang. He excused himself, and with Jake, he picked up the line. "Hello? Yeah, it's Atticus." He mouthed to Jake, "Nellie."

He asked her, "You're Amy and Dan's babysitter, right?"

Even Jake heard the shrill shriek at the other end of the line, "Former babysitter! And it's au pair!"

Atticus replied, "Oh, ok... so what is it?" Pause. "Guardians...are you sure? You have it? Yes. We're coming."

He hung up. Jake turned to his brother. "Where are we going?"

Atticus waved, "Australia, come on! Nellie knows something about the Guardians!"


	10. Chapter 10 - Fiske Cahill

Next chapter, Fiske Cahill, coming soon! Quick question, what do you think of the cover of this fanfiction? Any suggestions to improve it?


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